Joint-sealing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A joint-sealing device for use primarily in road or bridge deck joints in which an anchor is fixed to each side of the joint, each anchor presenting confronting abutments inside the joint and a compressible, resilient, elastic sealing member seated between the abutments for a watertight seal. Each abutment has a cavity extending the length of the joint and the joint-sealing member has a mating projection extending into the cavity to retain the joint-sealing member in its proper position. In addition, a method of installing such an apparatus is described.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Barry W. Johnson Chicago, 111. [21 Appl. No. 795,630 221 Filed 1:11.31, 1969 [45] Patented Aug. 10, 1971 [73] Assignee W. R. Grace & Co.

Cambridge, Mass.

[541 Jom'r-smunc APPARATUS 14 Claims, 4 Drawing Fig [52] US. Cl. 94/18 [51] Int. Cl. .E0lc 11/10 [50] Field Search 94/18, 18.2

[56] Reference Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,156,681 5/1939 Dewhirst 94/18 2,228,052 1/1941 Gardner 94/18 3,218,941 11/1965 Daum 94/18 3,276,336 10/1966 Crone.... 94/18 5/ 1967 Pare 3,395,627 8/1968 Barton 94/22 X 3,396,640 8/1968 Fujihara 94/18 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,241,477 6/1967 Germany 94/18 1.251933 10/1967 Germany 94/18 Primary Examiner Nile C. Byers, Jr. Attorneys-C. E. Parker, W 1.. Baker, Metro Kalimon and Theodore C. Browne ABSTRACT: A joint-sealing device for use primarily in road or bridge deck joints in which an anchor is fixed to each side of the joint, each anchor presenting confronting abutments inside the joint and a compressible, resilient, elastic sealing member seated between the abutments for a watertight seal. Each abutment has a cavity extending the length of the joint and the joint-sealing member has a mating projection extending into the cavity to retain the joint-sealing member in its proper position. in addition, a method of installing such an apparatus is described.

'4 1O 4' 8 l l PATENTEDAUGIOIQYI 3,598,026

SHEEI 1 OF 2 INVENTOR.

HARRY W. JOHNSON PATENTEDAUGIOIQYI 3,598,026

SHEET 2 OF 2 FIG.4

INVENTOR. HARRY W. JOHNSON JOINT-SEALING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a joint-sealing device and to a method for constructing joints formed by adjacent construction bodies using such a device. It particularly relates to such a device and to a method for use thereof in road or bridge deck construction where a resilient, elastic, compressible sealing member formed from a solid material such as neoprene rubber is held in place in a joint which is open at the bottom and which is likely to undergo a large and/or unexpected width variation due to contraction or expansion of the adjacent construction bodies forming the joint. The most specific use is in bridge construction where the calculation of joint width range is not very accurate.

Prior art discloses the use of elastic joint-sealing members leaving smooth flat vertical sides in contact with flat vertical steel surfaces, usually in the form of steel angle corners anchored into the adjacent bridge deck. It is normally anticipated in such devices that friction will hold the joint-sealing member in place. In order to guarantee this friction holding, the joint seal is initially installed with the joint-sealing member precompressed to about one-half its uncompressed width. This is accomplished by setting up anchors at the desired site of the joint and stuffing the joint-sealing member between the anchors. The deck is then constructed up to the anchors. In the case of a concrete deck, the concrete is allowed to initial set and then the anchors are released from their temporary superstructure.

One of the deficiencies of this procedure is that when the construction is being performed during the summer, after the concrete has cured, it expands, closing the joint to the extent that the joint-sealing member may extrude out of the joint or may be damaged or otherwise rendered ineffective. In this respect, it is known that concrete usually shrinks on curing, but high summer temperatures frequently cause expansion, the result being an overall expansion.

A difficulty which further complicates this matter is the inherent inability to calculate or predict the ultimate joint width range. This is due to the fact that many variables influence the joint width on a bridge at any given time and that these variables even when known are frequently difficult or impossible to calculate or even predict. One such variable for example is pier and support deflection.

It has thus been found that in spite of all precautions, such as precompression, the joint may open to the point that the joint-sealing member will fall out of the bottom ofthe joint. To combat this problem a shelf is often attached to each anchor below the sealing member. The shelves extend into the joint an amount sufficient to prevent the joint-sealing member from falling out. They must be wide enough to support the jointsealing member when the joint is at its widest but narrow enough that when the joint is narrowest, the shelves do not touch. However, it is not infrequent that when the joint-sealing member is being only loosely held in the joint it may be sucked upwardly out by the passage of vehicles over the joint.

Most important when the joint opens to beyond the uncompressed portion of the joint-sealing member, the sealing effect of the joint-sealing member is lost permitting entry of water or debris thus defeating its purpose even though the seal may remain in the joint.

Stuffing the joint-sealing member into the joint is difficult and sometimes results in improper seating of the member in the joint and on the shelves so that extreme precompression is not practicable even in the absence of expansion due to heat.

The present invention eliminates these problems by providing a positive means for retaining the joint-sealing member in the joint and at the same time insuring sealing contact without resort to excessive precompression. Sealing is insured even when the joint opens beyond the uncompressed width of the joint-sealing member in the present invention by urging the sides of the joint-sealing member against the joint sides. The

method of assembly herein described also eliminates the difficulty of, and the problems caused by, stuffing the joint-sealing member into the joint space by eliminating the need for precompressed assembly on the one hand and providing a controlled method and means for inserting the joint-sealing member even under compression on the other hand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The apparatus of the invention is installed in a joint opening formed by adjacent bodies of a construction whose otherwise continuous face is interrupted by sides defining the joint open ing. Inside the joint and anchored to each of the bodies, are mounted anchors presenting confronting abutments in the joint each abutment having at least one cavity therein. A compressible, resilient, elastic joint-sealing member is positioned between the abutments for sealable contact therewith. Extending from the joint-sealing member are projections which mate with the cavities in the abutments. The cavities and projections may be shaped to resist respective disengagement. In a preferred embodiment the anchors provide mounting means in the joint to which are mounted gripping members the latter in turn presenting the confronting abutments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross section elevation view of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross section elevation view of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus as installed between typical concrete slabs.

FIG. 3 is a cross section view of the apparatus showing a preferred embodiment of the gripping member.

FIG. 4 is an end perspective view showing a method of assembly of the apparatus of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows in cross section a typical joint in a concrete bridge deck construction. It is intended that reference to a bridge comprehends overpasses or other similar structures. Bridge deck slabs l are interrupted to define a joint in which a joint seal is installed. The joint normally runs transversely across the width of the slab although it frequently crosses at an angle other than perpendicular. In addition the joint may not be straight but may rather haveseveral legs at varying angles. Similarly, where several decks intersect, joints serving to separate each intersecting deck may intersect at a variety of angles. The joint seal here described may be used on any such form of bridge or road construction. It is particularly useful in joints where contraction and expansion of deck slabs cause a large variation in the joint width. Variation in joint width may be caused by a variety of other factors such as bridge support movement and is therefore frequently not susceptible of exact calculation. However, this joint seal is useful regardless of the reason for joint width variations and is especially satisfactory where joint opening may vary an unexpected amount.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the joint seal is anchored to the slabs by rods 2 extending from anchors 4 which like all elements of the seal of the present invention run longitudinally the length of the joint. The anchors 4 have confronting vertical abutments 5 inside the joint in each of which is a cavity 6. It should be appreciated that while the abutments shown are flat and vertically parallel, a variety of surfaces and orientation may be substituted. A sealing member 7 spans the joint opening and is in sealing contact with the abutments 5. The sealing member 7 has a projection 8 extending from each side into the cavities 6. The sides 9 of the sealing member 7 and the abutments 5 are coextensive, shown here as flat. The projections 8 and the cavities 6 are preferably of such configuration and/or relative size that they resist disengagement. Thus in FIG. 1 is shown a dovetail-type engagement. A variety of configurations in which the cavities 6 are interiorly enlarged and the projections are similarly enlarged outwardly of the sealing member 7 would perform according to the concept of the invention, the dovetail shown being preferred. Such shapes as circles, or barbs are suggested as further examples.

The sealing member 7 is a hollow web formed of a number of transverse walls having chevron-oriented segments. The particular functioning and novelty of the sealing member will be discussed below in connection with the preferred embodiment of FIG. 2. In brief, the configuration of the sealing member permits it to be stretched or compressed over a very wide range so that sides 9 do not distort or separate from the abutment.

FIG. 2 shows a preferred embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment the joint seal is anchored by means of angle irons 4' or the like which are anchored by rods 2 to right-hand slabs l. The angle irons 4 each have a flange extending into the joint upon which are mounted gripping members 10 of generally rectangular cross section presenting confronting abutments 11. The gripping members 10 may be mounted in any convenient manner such as by welding or bolting. In each of the abutments is an upper cavity 12 and a lower cavity 13.

The sealing member 14 has extending from each side an upper projection 16 and a lower projection 17 which mate with the cavities l2 and 13 respectively. The web structure of the sealing member may be said to comprise a double-chevron configuration as compared to the single-chevron form shown in FIG. 1. Specifically, the sealing member comprises a top double-chevron wall 18 and interior double-chevron wall 19 and a bottom double-chevron wall 20. The walls extend transversely between the sides to form an integral structure. The interior wall 19 and the bottom wall intersect the sides 15 adjacent to the projections 16 and 17 respectively. Each of the walls consists of chevron segments 24, and 26 which meet at an angle forming an apex. Joining the apices are vertical webs 21. Extending below the outermost chevron segments 26 are legs 22 and 23.

Referring again to FIG. I, the sealing member 7 comprises a top wall 18, and interior wall 19' and a bottom wall 20' whose chevron shape trip defined by chevron segments 26. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 the respective chevron segments of the walls are generally parallel although certain exceptions are defined below.

In considering the operation of the joint seal, FIG. 2 may be taken to represent it in a relaxed state, that is the sealing member 14 is neither compressed nor stretched. It should be noted again that it is desirable that a joint seal not open to, or beyond its relaxed state; however, due to the aforementioned difficulties in predicting joint opening range, joints frequently do so expand. As the slabs 1 move apart the projections 16 and 17 retain the sides 15 in scalable contact with the abutments 1 1. Initially the walls 18, 19 and 20 offer little resistance to the maintenance of sealing contact, because the chevron segments tend to straighten rather than stretch. The range of this initial free expansion of the sealing member 14 is determined by the angle at which the chevron segments join. When the walls 18, 19 and 20 are essentially straight they begin to stretch at the same time transmitting a bending force to the sides 15 tending to draw the sides out of contact with the abutments 11. By locating the interior walls 19 and 20 directly adjacent to the projections 16 and 17 respectively, the force is transmitted directly across the sides 15 to the projections 16 and 17 leaving the sides 15 relatively unstressed. The force on the projections 16 and 17 is taken up by the walls of the cavities 12 and 13.

In FIG. 2 no projection is shown extending from the top wall 18. Under the conditions described above then, the sides 15 may tend to be separated from the abutments in the vicinity of the top wall 18. This could be avoided by installing additional projections extending from the top wall 18 into the gripping members 10. Another means for avoiding this is to make the additive transverse dimension of the top wall 18 greater than that of the interior walls 19 and 20 so that the latter will be stressed and stretched while the top wall 18 still relaxed a distance equal to the difference in their additive dimensions. It is notable that such a variation will result in a somewhat nonparallel orientation of the segments of the top wall 18 with those of the interior walls 19 and 20 although the walls generally are still parallel in terms of traversing the sides 15 an equal distance apart. This nonparallelism will not significantly interfere with the novel capabilities of the chevron configuration so long as the effect is not exaggerated while providing an important beneficial relationship between walls which are not adjacent to projections and those which are.

In extreme cases the sides 15 may become separated from the abutments despite the restraining effect of the projections 16 and 17. Although in such cases debris may enter between the sides and the abutments in the portion above the upper projections 16, water still cannot flow past the joint because of the projections 16.

It should be appreciated that relatively stiff elastomeric material is preferred for use in the sealing member of the invention and therefor that the restraining effect of the projections will normally prevent separation of the sides 15 from the abutments 11 regardless of the configuration of the sealing member itself.

The double chevron configuration of the walls of FIG. 2 also provides increased ability for the joint to close without damage or degradation in performance. As indicated above the various chevron segments of each wall are parallel or nearly parallel to their respective segments in the other walls. Thus the segments will tend to collapse to a vertical, parallel orientation as the joint closes. Vertical web segments 21 control the collapse of the chevron segments to insure this parallelism as well as to insure that no segment is bent except at the apices where it joins its adjacent segments. Should the sealing member be compressed to solid all the segments would be generally vertically parallel and in complete accommodation.

The legs 22 and 23 add an additional advantage in that they tend to stiffen that portion of the sealing member 14 directly above them so that upon initial compression, inner chevron segments 24 and 25 will tend to collapse a considerable distance before collapse of the outer chevron segments 26 begins, thus minimizing any disturbance of the sides 15 in their sealing contact with the abutments 1 1.

FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment wherein the gripping member is separated into submembers 30, 31 and 32. The submembers may be fixed to the angle irons 9 in any convenient manner as already explained. The submembers are mounted in vertical spaced-apart relationship so that the upper submember 30 provides an upper cavity wall for the upper projection 16 and the lower submember 32 provides a similar lower cavity wall for the lower projection 17. The center submember 31 completes the cavities which extend through the gripping member terminating against the flange of the angle iron 9. By this embodiment economies are achieved in eliminating expensive interior machining to form the cavities as shown in FIGS. I and 2. In this regard, such alternate cavity shapes as circle segments or barbs would not be as convenient in terms of ease of manufacture.

FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred method of installing the jointsealing member. The angle irons 9 and gripping member 10 are assembled and installed first at the construction site an the concrete deck I poured up to each angle iron. After the concrete has taken an initial set or before pouring, the jointsealing member 14 is inserted by sliding it between the gripping members 10 from one end of the joint. A lubricant may be used to facilitate sliding. The gripping members 10 may be assembled to present a space less than the uncompressed width of the sealing member 14, 50 to 75 percent of the uncompressed width being preferred. It has been found that after curing the concrete deck the joint opening may be smaller than originally formed, especially during summer construction where the concrete tends to expand from heat more than it tends to shrink from curing. For this reason it may be difficult to insert' the joint seal after the concrete has been poured and cured. An alternative method of assembly, then is to assemble all the elements away from the construction site, maintaining the joint seal in relaxed state or in the desired precompressed state, for example, by means of a jig attached to the angle irons; moving the entire assembly into place at the site and then pouring the concrete. After initial set the jig is removed and the joint is free to expand or contract in accordance with expansion and contraction of the concrete. These methods may also be employed using the anchors 4 of H6. 1 or the submembers 30, 31 and 32 of FIG. 3 the methods having been described with the gripping members of FIG. 4 for convenience only.

I claim:

1. The method of making a sealed joint in a construction comprising adjacent bodies having faces interrupted by confronting spaced-apart joint-defining sides in which joints are anchored confronting abutments each abutment having at least one cavity therein; sliding between the abutments from one end a joint-sealing member having sides and projections coextensive with said abutments and cavities respectively.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the projections of the joint-sealing member are outwardly enlarged and the cavities of the abutments are coextensively inwardly enlarged for resisting respective disengagement.

3. The method of making a sealed joint in a construction comprising adjacent bodies having faces interrupted by confronting spaced-apart joint-defining sides which method comprises; positioning a fixed predetermined distance apart a pair of anchors having confronting abutments and at least one cavity in each of the abutments; sliding between the abutments from one end a joint-sealing member having sides and projections coextensive with the abutments and cavities respectively; emplacing the above recited assembly at the site of the desired sealed joint; constructing the adjacent bodies up to the anchors to define the joint.

4. The method of claim 3 further characterized by moving the anchors toward each other after insertion of the joint-sealing member to compress the joint-sealing member, maintaining the joint-sealing member so compressed until the adjacent bodies are rigidly composed to permanently control the joint spaces.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the joint-sealing member is compressed an amount about 50 to 75 percent of its compressible range.

6. A joint-sealing apparatus for use with a construction, said construction comprising adjacent bodies having faces interrupted by confronting spaced-apart joint-defining sides, said apparatus comprising: an anchor fixed to each body and presenting within the joint, confronting abutments each abutment having at least one interiorly enlarged cavity therein; a resilient elastic compressible joint-sealing member positioned in the joint having opposite sides in scalable contact with said confronting abutments and a web structure comprising a plurality of chevron-segmented walls establishing two chevrons for each wall, extending transversely between said opposite sides, the respective chevron segments of the walls being substantially parallel and having at least one outwardly enlarged projection extending from each of the opposite sides of the joint-sealing member into the cavities and substantially coextensive therewith, the projections extending in paired relationship from a point adjacent to at least one of said plurality of walls and the joint-sealing member further comprising a leg extending below the chevron segment nearest each of said sides.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising vertical web segments extending between apices formed by said chevron segments of said walls.

8. A joint-sealing apparatus for use with a construction, said construction comprising adjacent bodies having faces interrupted by confronting spaced-apart joint-defining sides, said apparatus comprising: an anchor fixed to each body and presenting within the joint, confronting abutments each abutment having at least one inwardly enlarged cavity therein; a resilient, elastic compressible joint-sealing member positioned in the joint and having opposite sides in scalable contact with ds t s b men 24 e ursh ns spl rality of chevron-segmented walls extending transversely between said opposite sides, the respective chevron segments of the walls being substantially parallel, and having at least one outwardly enlarged projection extending from each of the opposite sides of the joint-sealing member into the cavities and substantially coextensive therewith, the projections extending in paired relationship from a point adjacent at least one of said plurality of walls and wherein however the additive transverse dimension of any walls having an adjacent pair of projections is less than the additive transverse dimension of any walls not having adjacent projections.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising vertical web segments extending between apices formed by said chevron segments of said walls.

10. A joint-sealing apparatus for use with a construction, said construction comprising adjacent bodies having faces interrupted by confronting spaced-apart joint-defining sides, said apparatus comprising: an anchor fixed to each body and having thereon a mounting means; a gripping member mounted on each of the mounting means and presenting within the joint, confronting abutments, each abutment having at least one interiorly enlarged cavity therein; a resilient elastic compressible joint-sealing member positioned in the joint and having opposite sides in sealable contact with the confronting abutments and a web structure comprising a plurality of chevron-segmented walls establishing two chevrons for each wall extending transversely between said opposite sides, the respective chevron segments of the walls being substantially parallel and the joint-sealing member having at least one outwardly enlarged projection extending from each of the opposite sides of the joint-sealing member into the cavities and substantially coextensive therewith, the projections extending in paired relationship from a point adjacent at least one of said plurality of walls and the joint-sealing member further comprising a leg extending below the chevron segment nearesteach of said sides.

11. A joint-sealing member for use in a joint-sealing apparatus said apparatus having confronting abutments presented in a joint for scalable contact with said member and having at least one interiorly enlarged cavity in each of said abutments; said joint-sealing member comprising: a resilient compressible elastic web structure defined by sides adapted for sealable contact with said confronting abutments; at least one outwardly enlarging projection extending from each of the sides and adapted for engagement within said cavities; a plurality of chevron-segmented walls establishing two chevrons for each wall extending transversely between the sides, the respective chevron segments being substantially parallel, and wherein said projections extend in a paired relationship from a point adjacent at least one of the plurality of walls and a leg extending below the chevron segment nearest each of said sides.

12. The member of claim 11 comprising a top wall, an interior wall and a lower wall and having a projection one each side extending from a point adjacent the interior wall and the lower wall.

13. The member of claim 12 further comprising vertical web segments extending between apices formed by said chevron segments of said walls.

14. A joint-sealing member for use in a joint-sealing apparatus said apparatus having confronting abutments presented in a joint for sealable contact with said member and having at least one interiorly enlarged cavity in each of said abutment; said joint-sealing member comprising a resilient compressible elastic web structure defined by sides adapted for scalable projection extending from each of the sides and adapted to engagement within said cavities; a plurality of chevron-segmented walls extending transversely between the sides, the respective chevron segments being substantially parallel, wherein said projections extend in a paired relation ship from a point adjacent at least one of the plurality of walls wherein however the additive transverse dimension of any wall having an adjacent pair of projections is less than the additive transverse dimension of any walls not having adjacent projections. 

1. The method of making a sealed joint in a construction comprising adjacent bodies having faces interrupted by confronting spaced-apart joint-defining sides in which joints are anchored confronting abutments each abutment having at least one cavity therein; sliding between the abutments from one end a joint-sealing member having sides and projections coextensive with said abutments and cavities respectively.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the projections of the joint-sealing member are outwardly enlarged and the cavities of the abutments are coextensively inwardly enlarged for resisting respective disengagement.
 3. The method of making a sealed joint in a construction comprising adjacent bodies having faces interrupted by confronting spaced-apart joint-defining sides which method comprises; positioning a fixed predetermined distance apart a pair of anchors having confronting abutments and at least one cavity in each of the abutments; sliding between the abutments from one end a joint-sealing member having sides and projections coextensive with the abutments and cavities respectively; emplacing the above recited assembly at the site of the desired sealed joint; constructing the adjacent bodies up to the anchors to define the joint.
 4. The method of claim 3 further characterized by moving the anchors toward each other after insertion of the joint-sealing member to compress the joint-sealing member; maintaining the joint-sealing member so comprEssed until the adjacent bodies are rigidly composed to permanently control the joint spaces.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the joint-sealing member is compressed an amount about 50 to 75 percent of its compressible range.
 6. A joint-sealing apparatus for use with a construction, said construction comprising adjacent bodies having faces interrupted by confronting spaced-apart joint-defining sides, said apparatus comprising: an anchor fixed to each body and presenting within the joint, confronting abutments each abutment having at least one interiorly enlarged cavity therein; a resilient elastic compressible joint-sealing member positioned in the joint having opposite sides in sealable contact with said confronting abutments and a web structure comprising a plurality of chevron-segmented walls establishing two chevrons for each wall, extending transversely between said opposite sides, the respective chevron segments of the walls being substantially parallel and having at least one outwardly enlarged projection extending from each of the opposite sides of the joint-sealing member into the cavities and substantially coextensive therewith, the projections extending in paired relationship from a point adjacent to at least one of said plurality of walls and the joint-sealing member further comprising a leg extending below the chevron segment nearest each of said sides.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising vertical web segments extending between apices formed by said chevron segments of said walls.
 8. A joint-sealing apparatus for use with a construction, said construction comprising adjacent bodies having faces interrupted by confronting spaced-apart joint-defining sides, said apparatus comprising: an anchor fixed to each body and presenting within the joint, confronting abutments each abutment having at least one inwardly enlarged cavity therein; a resilient, elastic compressible joint-sealing member positioned in the joint and having opposite sides in sealable contact with said confronting abutments and a web structure having a plurality of chevron-segmented walls extending transversely between said opposite sides, the respective chevron segments of the walls being substantially parallel, and having at least one outwardly enlarged projection extending from each of the opposite sides of the joint-sealing member into the cavities and substantially coextensive therewith, the projections extending in paired relationship from a point adjacent at least one of said plurality of walls and wherein however the additive transverse dimension of any walls having an adjacent pair of projections is less than the additive transverse dimension of any walls not having adjacent projections.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising vertical web segments extending between apices formed by said chevron segments of said walls.
 10. A joint-sealing apparatus for use with a construction, said construction comprising adjacent bodies having faces interrupted by confronting spaced-apart joint-defining sides, said apparatus comprising: an anchor fixed to each body and having thereon a mounting means; a gripping member mounted on each of the mounting means and presenting within the joint, confronting abutments, each abutment having at least one interiorly enlarged cavity therein; a resilient elastic compressible joint-sealing member positioned in the joint and having opposite sides in sealable contact with the confronting abutments and a web structure comprising a plurality of chevron-segmented walls establishing two chevrons for each wall extending transversely between said opposite sides, the respective chevron segments of the walls being substantially parallel and the joint-sealing member having at least one outwardly enlarged projection extending from each of the opposite sides of the joint-sealing member into the cavities and substantially coextensive therewith, the projections extending in paired relationship from a point adjacent at least one of said pluRality of walls and the joint-sealing member further comprising a leg extending below the chevron segment nearest each of said sides.
 11. A joint-sealing member for use in a joint-sealing apparatus said apparatus having confronting abutments presented in a joint for sealable contact with said member and having at least one interiorly enlarged cavity in each of said abutments; said joint-sealing member comprising: a resilient compressible elastic web structure defined by sides adapted for sealable contact with said confronting abutments; at least one outwardly enlarging projection extending from each of the sides and adapted for engagement within said cavities; a plurality of chevron-segmented walls establishing two chevrons for each wall extending transversely between the sides, the respective chevron segments being substantially parallel, and wherein said projections extend in a paired relationship from a point adjacent at least one of the plurality of walls and a leg extending below the chevron segment nearest each of said sides.
 12. The member of claim 11 comprising a top wall, an interior wall and a lower wall and having a projection one each side extending from a point adjacent the interior wall and the lower wall.
 13. The member of claim 12 further comprising vertical web segments extending between apices formed by said chevron segments of said walls.
 14. A joint-sealing member for use in a joint-sealing apparatus said apparatus having confronting abutments presented in a joint for sealable contact with said member and having at least one interiorly enlarged cavity in each of said abutment; said joint-sealing member comprising a resilient compressible elastic web structure defined by sides adapted for sealable projection extending from each of the sides and adapted to engagement within said cavities; a plurality of chevron-segmented walls extending transversely between the sides, the respective chevron segments being substantially parallel, wherein said projections extend in a paired relationship from a point adjacent at least one of the plurality of walls wherein however the additive transverse dimension of any wall having an adjacent pair of projections is less than the additive transverse dimension of any walls not having adjacent projections. 